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Perhaps visit to Oklahoma will be instructive for President Obama

IS it just us or is there something disingenuous about using thousands of gallons of jet fuel for photo ops that involve Barack Obama's professed love of alternative energy and his expressed concern over high gasoline prices?

The Obama campaign air show whistle-stops in Oklahoma Wednesday and Thursday, the first time the president has set foot in the state since becoming president. He'll visit Cushing to say how much he likes the idea of a new petroleum pipeline from there to the Gulf Coast. Is it just us or is there something disingenuous about praising the Cushing pipeline that would go south while blocking a connecting line that would go north?

Obama's energy plan involving “all of the above” (his words) has been put in a pipeline headed toward a few-of-the-above reality check. The administration is rife with bureaucrats who show disdain for fossil fuel, but Americans need the stuff to get to work — just as Obama needs it for Air Force One trips between campaign photo ops.

The president has suddenly found an interest in energy that doesn't involve solar panels. He's bragging about the exploration and production gains made during his administration. Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer put those claims under the microscope and found them to be boasts in search of facts. Domestic oil production is up and oil imports are down not because of Obama policies but in spite of them. Vast areas remain off limits to drilling.

The Sierra Club plans to protest Obama's enthusiasm for the Cushing-to-the-south pipeline. Someday they may get to protest the Cushing-to-Canada leg. We can only hope!

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The Oklahoman Editorial Board consists of Gary Pierson, President and CEO of The Oklahoma Publishing Company; Christopher P. Reen, president and publisher of The Oklahoman; Kelly Dyer Fry, editor and vice president of news; Christy Gaylord...